Cycle9.com » Cargo Bikes

Which Cargo Bike is Right For Me? Go By Bike Episode 40

elise — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 14:31:33 +0000

Madsen, Big Dummy, or Yuba?

Lately, we’ve had a lot of questions around the idea of which cargo bike is the best. In my experience, each one of them has advantages and disadvantages, both in utility, style, and type of load. Finding the right bike depends on how you’re planning to use it. If you get the right one, you’ll use it a lot. If you don’t, you’ll probably wonder why so many people rave about these and lament the money you spent!

Watch the video for some comparison of these three cargo bikes. There are many other bikes out there now, and other options – best saved for another video.

Add your comment below!

-Elise

Go By Bike is a daily video series that talks about how to be green by riding more and using your car less, including electric bikes, electric kits, cargo bikes, bike safety, and getting motivated to bike

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Cargo Bike Businesses – Go By Bike Episode 34

elise — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 00:28:00 +0000

What can you do with a bike?

One of the cool things about the internet is all of the cool posts people put up about all kinds of unusual things! And one of the cool things about cargo bikes is all the cool uses people are putting them to. Beyond the typical “mini van” or “pick up ” uses, there are a bunch of people doing fun bike-based businesses. What a great idea!

These are just a few businesses I came across, so let me know what you’ve found! Post a link below.

Mattress delivery: http://bikeportland.org/2010/05/17/need-a-mattress-get-it-delivered-by-bike/

Soup: http://www.cargobikecult.com/?p=135

Bike Repair: http://www.cargobikecult.com/?p=229

Ride on!

-Elise

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Keep the Kids Dry – Go By Bike Episode 29

elise — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 20:56:55 +0000

How to keep the Kiddos Dry on a Rainy Day?

When cycling with kids in tow, most of the time we try to pick good weather. But what do you do if it rains or want to cycle anyway, even if it’s a little wet? In today’s episode of Go By Bike, I give the “high tech” solution that I use (don’t worry, it’s really not that high tech!).

Have you used this solution or others? What do you do about rain?

Leave your comments below.

-Elise

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Surly Bicycles

sasha — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 01:07:07 +0000

At Cycle 9, we love Surly’s no-nonsense approach to bicycles. These bikes are not flashy or trendy, but are elegant and refined in their functionality. Made from CroMoly steel, Surlys are built to last and ride beautifully.

Take the Surly Cross Check, for example.

Surly Cross Check

The versatile Cross Check handles all terrains with ease. It’s a great commuter bike, offering a fabulously comfortable ride. After work, go ahead and hit the trails. You’ll love how this bike handles off-road as well. Reviewers rave about this bike and for a good reason. Come on in to see what all the buzz is about!

Another favorite at Cycle 9 is the Big Dummy. Don’t let the name fool you, this bike isn’t a clunker. It’s made for hauling a lot of stuff and it does its job gracefully. Compatible with Xtracycle accessories, the Big Dummy can carry a week’s worth of groceries, an 8 ft ladder, passengers, or almost anything else you can think of – all while riding smoothly. The options are endless and car-less, which makes this Big Dummy anything but dumb.

Surly Big Dummy

Ok – I quit this gig. I’m packing up my crap and heading out West. Peace out amigos! While you’re watching the evening news, I’ll be riding into the sunset on Surly’s touring bike, the Long Haul Trucker. Because the Trucker’s frame geometry is designed to carry a lot of stuff, I can make it out to there with everything I need. The ultra durable components make me confident that my bike won’t let me down on the way. Once I’ve reached my destination, I’ll still have a great bike to get around town. Yup, the Long Haul Trucker is my long haul ride. It can be yours too. Stop by Cycle 9 to see why it’s one of our best sellers.

Surly Long Haul Trucker

Xtracycle, the original longtail bike – Go By Bike Episode 19

elise — Wed, 12 May 2010 14:33:43 +0000

Xtracycle. Your Everyday Adventure

Xtracycle is the original longtail – the company that started it all when surfers wanted to be able to carry their boards to the beach. Designed originally for use in developing countries with paths instead of roads, the Xtracycle add-on Free Radical kit found a home in the US in the 1990s, and the idea has taken off in the last 5 years.

In today’s video I show what an Xtracycle kit is, how it fits with your existing bicycle, and talk about why you would want this great cargo bike solution.

-Elise

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The Stoked Big Dummy – Go By Bike Episode 18

elise — Tue, 11 May 2010 01:33:58 +0000

Up close and personal – the Big Dummy with Stokemonkey

Now together again, two classics of the cargo biking world: Surly’s Big Dummy cargo bike and the Stokemonkey from Clever Chimp. Both of these products first emerged on the cargo biking scene in spring of 2008. Both sold out by mid-summer and were unavailable for awhile, building anticipation. Now both are available in new and improved forms.

Check them out here for an up close and personal view of how the stokemonkey works with it’s friend, the Big Dummy. If you’re in our area, come by the shop for a test ride – we have one set up and all ready to go.

- Elise

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Banana Ride Successful!

elise — Sat, 08 May 2010 11:36:08 +0000

Last weekend, local bus driver Dave Deming attempted to carry over 900 bananas on his Yuba Mundo cargo bike. That’s 400 lbs – 10 boxes of 40 lb. each. Why did he do it? How successful was it? Watch the video to find out.

E-Madsen is now my car – Go By Bike Episode 1

elise — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 15:56:26 +0000

Introducing my Daily Video Series – Go By Bike!

Today is my inaugural video of my NEW daily video series – Go By Bike! I started this series to talk about how to ride more and use your car less, including electric bikes, electric kits, cargo bikes, bike safety, and getting motivated to bike. Using your car less reduces your carbon footprint, saves energy, helps the environment, keeps you healthy, and makes your community a nicer place to live, so overall most people would agree it’s a good thing.

In today’s episode of Go By Bike, I show you how I set up my bicycle to carry 3 kids on my morning (and afternoon) commute. This may seem like a lot to carry, but I keep it fun, easy and practical. Check out my daily ride below…

What’s your daily commute vehicle? Post a comment and let me know.

Over and out…..

-Elise

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Yuba Mundo Version 3

elise — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 18:20:03 +0000

It’s spring, and we’re getting geared up for 2010. We just received our first shipment of Yuba Mundo bikes, Version 3! Including some component upgrades and minor fixes from version 2, the Mundo still rocks at the world’s most solid utility bike.

Yuba Mundo, Version 3 in Tangerine

Version 3 comes in Tangerine, Black or Carolina Blue (well, they don’t call it Carolina Blue, but we tarheels know better….). Some impressions:

I love the new kickstand on this bike. The kickstand (or lack thereof) was one of the major drawbacks of the earlier versions of mundos. This one is a single sided kickstand that is heavy duty enough to hold the bike up even when it is loaded. If you’re sticking 400lbs on the back, you might need an alternate plan, but for your average load, this kickstand is going to be great.
Continuing from earlier versions, the bike has a really nice, upright riding style, but not so upright that you can’t handle a heavy load. The handlebars are a nice cross between straight bars that tend to kill my wrists after while, and cruiser bars with so much reach that they don’t have as much stability. And the seat is actually a comfortable one out of the box – something that I can’t say about most bikes
The carrier is narrower than on the original mundo, allowing for 2 childseats to be attached to the rear deck. And Yuba has their own childseat that fits great and keeps the kids safe.

2 standard child seats fit on the rear carrier

The gearing is now 21 speeds with a triple chainring in front. The gearing is quite low, allowing for lots of spinning when moving those loads around town.
The frame is still rock-solid steel without flex. If your’re looking for a bike that can handle a lot of weight without flex, this one is it. The rear wheel still has the oversize axle and 48 spokes of earlier versions, all designed to hold up to whatever you throw at it.
A great improvement from the shop perspective and for online customers is a NEW BIGGER BOX, which means much less assembly required for the new Yubas. The version 2 bikes were packed in the box “like a Chinese puzzle” (according to mechanic and expert bike packer, Chris) requiring a 12-page document to assemble it. The new bike actually ships with the fork and rear wheel installed, much like typical bikes do.
But my FAVORITE part about the new mundo is the great feel of the bike. For a bike that looks heavy and is heavy duty, once you get on it, you hardly even notice that. The ride is easy and enjoyable, and it really is a bike you could use as your everyday vehicle without it feeling clunky.

Of course, electric-assist is always an option for cargo bikes, and the Yuba is no exception. We’ve worked out a couple of good kits for this bike to help save your legs and make your ride more enjoyable. Stay tuned for details.

(p.s. as of March 2010, we still have ONE version 2 6-speed green mundo available at a closeout price)

The electric mountain!

Morgan Giddings — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 18:15:20 +0000

Recently I got hold of a new e-bike drive system to test out on my cargo and kid carrying Surly Big Dummy.

The motivation is that for myself and many out there using cargo/sports utes, we sometimes have big loads strapped to our bikes, and in a place like Chapel Hill, big hills to climb with them.

That taxes the standard electric bike hub motor system. Some can handle it, but constantly pushing their limits may ultimately lead to failure. ( the same can be said for one’s legs – which is why I use a an electric assist on my cargo bike).

One solution to this problem has been the Stokemonkey. Instead of a hub motor, it uses the bike’s existing drivetrain – and gears. So, when you’re climbing a hill with it and you shift into a lower gear to give your legs a break, you’re giving the motor a break too. This increases overall system efficiency, and motor/battery system longevity.

But there have been two limitations to the Stokemonkey: limited supply (it is produced in small batches by our supplier in Portland, Or), and it only fits on Xtracycle-style cargo bikes.

A few brave designers have tried to crack this same nut with a system that doesn’t require an Xtracycle style frame.

The first was the Cyclone. I don’t have any experience with that system, but have heard certain things that have put me off from trying it – mainly that the installation is very involved.

Now comes the Electric Mountain Drive from the folks at Ecospeed (also from Oregon!).

The Electric Mountain Drive system

It is another electric assist system that uses the bike’s own drivetrain, benefiting from the gearing on the bike to reduce motor strain and increase climbing ability.

I’ve been using it for about two weeks now, so this review is only preliminary.

Here are some benefits of the system:

Because it uses the bike’s drivetrain, it can handle steep hills without strain (if I shift into the right gear)
It mounted to the frame in a relatively straightforward manner
It uses a standard electric bike brushless motor controller, so when the first one died (a note on that later), I was able to swap in an Infineon controller we had in the shop
Using only a 36 Volt battery with a controller consuming 20 amps, the bike can achieve powered speeds of up to 25mph+ (depending on headwind and hills). Most of the hub motors I’ve tested – even the high speed ones – can’t do this on only 36V 20A system. For me those would top out around 22mph on the flats, pulling maximum amps.
Its installation wasn’t too difficult, and the instructions were very detailed.

For certain kinds of applications such as steep hills to climb on a cargo bike without a spot to put a Stokemonkey, this appears to be THE solution.

But it does have a few drawbacks to be aware of:

It is somewhat noisy. It is not louder than the cars on the road – but not a lot quieter, either. I like to operate in “stealth” mode on my local bike path so as to not get any of the other users upset that I’m using electric assist. It is hard to do with the EMD, unless I just entirely leave the electric off. That’s fine… except for that I’m usually in a hurry (note: I never, ever use the electric assist to exceed 20 mph on the bike path, and I always slow down for other users – doing otherwise would not only be rude, but would likely land me in trouble). Also, the way it mounts on the bike makes it more obvious that the bike has some kind of motor attached.
I found the overall system efficiency to be disappointing – which means that I can’t travel as far on a single battery charge. When I used the eZee hub motor, I typically got 18 watt hours per mile or better (at 36V). That meant I could do a 20 mile roundtrip with my 10 amp hour battery. With the EMD system, I’m getting at best 24 watt hours per mile, reducing the range to around 15 miles. I think there are three factors causing this: a) It uses a chain/gear system with a oneway clutch that may loose energy; b) Some energy may be lost in my Nuvinci continuous variable transmission; c) it is easy to go too fast with the system, which always sucks down juice very fast (any speed over 20mph on an e-bike is usually quite inefficient). I’ve tried to keep the speed low, and still had poor efficiency. At some point, I’ll try it out on a bike with a regular rear transmission using cassette and derailleur, to see whether that makes any difference.
The first controller fried within only 1/2 hour of operation. It turns out that the motor and controller are made by BMC. BMC makes decent motors… but their controllers have a not so good reputation for reliability (we won’t sell them anymore after a failure rate of over 50%). We replaced it with an Infineon, which has worked well so far (an is in general a very reliable controller). To their credit, Ecospeed did send us a new controller right away, and it is a different design. But it is still made by BMC. I think I’ll keep the Infineon for now.
It requires a bike with a circular downtube – the tube from the handlebars down to the pedals (many bikes these days have ovalized downtubes). And, once installed, it does protrude down a bit.

Another attribute I noted that is neither plus nor minus is that to optimally use this motor, I had to get in the habit of shifting the bike appropriately. This requires letting off the throttle a bit, doing a rapid shift, then getting back on the throttle. At first it was a bit clunky for me – but just like learning to drive with a clutch and gearshift, once I picked it up, it worked well. I have come to enjoy the challenge of shifting properly through an acceleration cycle to get up to speed.

Bottom line: The EMD will be a perfect solution for people who have big/long hills to climb, and provides a worthwhile alternative to the Stokemonkey, especially if the latter isn’t available or if it won’t fit on your bike.

My assessment is that hub motors will be better for the person who has moderate hills, long distances, or is concerned about noise. Since I fall in several of the latter categories, I’m likely to return back to a hub motor system at some point.